Creative Thinking Skills

Creative thinking is the process of looking at things in new ways and expanding one’s point of view by exploring “what if” questions. Creativity leads to innovation and an innovative environment spurs productivity. Creative thinking can be fostered by encouraging employees to experiment and provide leeway for the process of trial-and-error. Here are 10 ways to develop creative thinking skills in the workplace:

1) Define your needs clearly

In most cases, people seem to believe that creativity is something new or novel. This could not be further from the truth. Creativity is actually the capacity or ability to create. It’s like an inherent potential that lies within us but needs to be developed. For example, we are all capable of being creative in our respective fields whether it is art, craft or any trade.

2) Stimulate your employees’ creativity

Many organisations provide classes on creativity, which is great as it helps individuals foster their creative thinking skills. However, the most effective way of developing a creative environment is to provide opportunities for people to work through problems and encourage them to experiment.

3) Encourage your people to learn from each other

We are all endowed with different strengths and abilities – some excel in arts, others in sports or academics. Encourage your staff to learn from each other through teamwork, exploration and learning from each other’s strengths. Teamwork works best when members complement one another for they can share their knowledge, skills and experience with no fear of competition.

4) Have a healthy work-life balance

This is important as it’s crucial to give ourselves some time for rest and renewal. Otherwise, we will be run down by stress.

5) Try out new things

Try being a tutor for someone in your team who wants to learn. Not only will it help you discover your students’ learning styles, but helps you get to know them better so you can find out if they would benefit from some one-on-one instruction or just need a listening ear.

6) Have fun and enjoy what you do

We are passionate about our work because we love it. If we don’t like what we’re doing, there is no excitement and no creativity will ever come into play. Think about it, if you are passionate about something, your work will come easy and seamless because of the enjoyment factor.

7) Encourage curiosity

Curiosity is the engine that drives creativity. The other day I saw a colleague asking so many questions about our organisation’s values and mission statement that it took him a while to get some work done. But his curiosity led to new insights that he would not have seen otherwise and created a lasting impression in the process, one that will help him focus on important issues rather than just “getting things done”.

8) Learn to accept failure

No matter how hard we try, there will be times when our ideas don’t work out even after we’ve done our due diligence. Encourage your people to experiment and be willing to accept the outcome of their work, even if it means failure. This will lead to more innovation in the long run.

9) Be positive and encouraging

Encourage creative thinking not just among your employees but also within yourself. You can motivate and encourage others to think creatively by taking a more positive outlook and showing that you can be creative as well. It’s amazing how much we can inspire others when we ourselves are seen to be having fun and enjoying our work.

10) Be courageous in the pursuit of your passion

There will always be many things vying for our attention, but if you’re passionate about something, it is important to focus on it as much as possible.

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